Hanson and Ettridge jailed for three years

Former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and party co-founder David Ettridge have been jailed for three years each after being found guilty of fraud charges by a Brisbane District Court jury.

Judge Patsy Wolfe made no recommendation for parole.

Hanson, 49, and Ettridge, 58, had pleaded not guilty to fraudulently registering One Nation in Queensland on December 4, 1997.

Hanson had also pleaded not guilty to dishonestly obtaining almost $500,000 in electoral reimbursements after the 1998 state election.

But a Brisbane District Court jury found the pair guilty on all counts after more than nine hours of deliberations.

Former One Nation leader Hanson was clearly shocked by the verdict, angrily declaring: "Rubbish, I'm not guilty ... it's a joke."

After sentencing, Hanson was in tears as she hugged Ettridge and her two sons.

During sentencing submissions, Hanson said: "Yes, I'm still very innocent of the charges and I believe the

prosecution has not proven the case against me or David Ettridge."

Ettridge, who represented himself at the trial, said: "I still maintain my innocence."

The jury was sent out at 3.54pm (AEST) yesterday after the 23-day trial which heard from 30 witnesses over allegations the pair lied to get the party registered.

It returned the guilty verdict at 2.32pm today.

Hanson and Ettridge were accused of pretending a list of more than 500 members used in the application to Queensland's Electoral Commission were people belonging to the party.

The Crown argued throughout the trial the list was of people belonging to Hanson's support movement.

To get registered in the state, a party must show proof of more than 500 members if it does not already have an elected representative.

Hanson quit as One Nation leader in January last year to focus on her court battles.

Dressed in a navy suit, Hanson stared straight ahead when the guilty verdicts were read out.

Hanson became a national figure in 1996 when she won the federal Queensland seat of Oxley as an independent.

She had been disendorsed as the Liberal candidate for the seat due to her comments on Aboriginal welfare and immigration.

In her famous maiden speech to federal parliament, she warned Australia was in danger of being swamped by Asians.

Just over a year later she formed One Nation with the help of the two Davids - her co-convicted in the fraud trial David Ettridge and current NSW upper house MP David Oldfield.

Despite Hanson being widely disparaged, One Nation won 11 out of 89 seats with 23 per cent of the vote at the 1998 Queensland elections and political pundits wondered how far the juggernaut could go.

Expectations of huge success at the federal election a few months later fell flat with One Nation winning just a solitary Senate seat despite achieving around a million first preference votes in the House of Representatives.

Preference deals between the major parties also cost Hanson a seat in parliament when she contested the outer Brisbane electorate of Blair.

Since then she twice failed to get elected to parliament, for the Senate in Queensland at the 2001 federal election and for the NSW upper house in this year's state poll.